Edmonds Dives Back Into Action

It’s a bird, it’s a plane . . . no, it was just Jim Edmonds up to his old tricks Tuesday night, soaring through the air to make a diving catch of Omar Vizquel’s first-inning drive to the warning track in left-center field.

Even better, Edmonds got up, his surgically repaired right shoulder no worse for the wear.

“I never even thought about not diving,” Edmonds said. “My first thought was to land correctly and stay together. I was surprised at how well I felt afterward. Everything went so perfect, there wasn’t much of an impact.”

The Angels’ biggest concern in sending Edmonds back to the outfield was that he would re-injure his shoulder crashing into a wall or the ground. But they knew they couldn’t tell Edmonds to hold back.

“The minute you tell a guy not to dive or go into the wall, you might as well not put him out there,” Manager Terry Collins said. “There’s only one way to play the game, and that’s the way Jim Edmonds plays it.”

Edmonds showed no fear Tuesday, but he admitted, “I’m still scared of the wall . . . just turning on the radio in the car sometimes, the shoulder will grab.”

The shoulder seems to bother Edmonds the most on his follow-through when he swings and misses. A burst of pain on such a swing Monday night forced him to drop the bat.

“There’s so much torque on the swing that it pulls the shoulder,” Edmonds said. “But I haven’t had too many problems except for one or two swings.”

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Edmonds moved from center field to first base Wednesday night, filling in for Darin Erstad, who was scratched because of a slight sprain of his right knee.

Erstad injured the knee swinging at a pitch during his third at-bat Tuesday night and had trouble getting loose Wednesday. The injury is not believed to be serious, and Erstad expects to return Friday.

It marked Edmonds’ first start at first base since June 26, 1997, and his 34th Angel appearance at the position.

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Second baseman Justin Baughman, who broke his lower left leg in five places in a Mexican Winter League game last November and is out for the season, said Wednesday he expects to resume workouts in the Arizona Instructional League this fall in hopes of being ready for spring training next year.

“It’s too early to tell how my speed will be affected,” said Baughman, who has been jogging three times a week for a month. “But it should come in time, because it’s just a bone injury.”